An Escape To La Jolla

Left L.A for La Jolla with my friend. We had no idea what traffic was going to be like. It took us about three hours. L.A is so unpredictable. But I just wanted to go somewhere for half a day. 

As I said before in another post, there are many place where you can grab brunch/lunch such as Sugar and Scribe for pancakes and eggs, or Piazza 1909 for salad and pizza. 

We walked around a bit, and went inside the Valencia hotel. The staff there is so nice. The beautiful fresh flowers above decorate their lobby.

This fountain was so pretty that I had to take a shot.

There are a bunch of shops in this passage, but most were closed by the time we got there. La Dolce Vida restaurant looked interesting. We saw one or two coffee shops that were open till midnight which surprised us. We thought that people in La Jolla went to bed early. Also, the area has so much variety from Japanese food, to Italian, to sea food, to Indian.

We wanted to go walking by the water, but it was starting to get dark. We found Coast Walk Trail and climbed for a bit.

The entire area is so lovely, and the water looks so clean.

There is a restaurant called Eddie Vic with an entrance from Prospect Street (I think). As you can see it has great views. We were debating as to what kind of food it served. It turned out that we were both wrong. It's a seafood and steak place, not Italian, and not Chinese 😄 After hanging around the area, we walked down and checked out the boutique hotels, quaint eateries and a small market. Then we climbed up, and headed back because it was getting late. We got back to L.A around midnight. It was a relaxing getaway. That's what I like about L.A. It offers so many places nearby and makes you feel like you're on a mini getaway.

 

La Jolla

After all that rain, I needed fresh air, sunshine and some fun. So, I headed out to San Diego. 

I used to spend many relaxing weekends at La Jolla when my friend and her husband lived there before she moved to Palos Verdes. La Jolla has changed a lot. It went from being a sleepy neighborhood to a happening one. It's packed with unique boutiques, art galleries, restaurants, and whatnot.

You can grab fish and chips at Dukes, or healthy/vegan food at Parakeet Café, and then go for a stroll by the water or check out the shops. 

I decided to get a palm reading for the fun of it. I honestly didn't think there would be several people waiting. I guess this is a popular place. It's on Prospect Avenue. The psychic's name was Cathia. 

I'm a difficult person to figure out. So, Psychics either guess and get most of it wrong or they have to ask me a bunch of questions about my family and past relationships in order to guess better. 

To my surprise though, Cathia got a few things right such as telling me that about ten years ago or so I lost someone which had a great impact on me, and changed me into a different person. I have no idea how she knew that. The person I lost was my mom, and I did become a different person. 

I went into this art gallery. The local artist, Ian Ely, has a lot of incredible pieces of nature. They were out of my budget, but Kristina, the sales rep, also offered prints of the work, and explained how the different versions of the same photograph were set up. She took me into a tiny room, and showed me the effect of different light settings as it dimmed slowly and changed the look of the photograph.

This is a nice hotel. I went in to explore. There was an event going on with people dressed up, drinking, and socializing. There is a restaurant/bar area. The views are spectacular, and the staff are friendly. 

Whether you're visiting L.A or live in the area, I highly recommend coming down to La Jolla. At first glance, parking seems to be difficult to find, but if you are patient, you will find a space. There are also a bunch of parking lots. And when you finally get there, do take your time to take in all that it has to offer, and spend an entire day there. I wish I had.